An important date looms on the calendar this week for Canadians and it’s not Valentine’s Day. I’ll instead draw your attention to Thursday February 15th when Canada’s flag will celebrate its 59th year in existence.
Younger generations may be surprised to learn the distinctive maple leaf design was not always our flag.
Following Confederation in 1867 until 1965, Canada lived under three different flags derived from our British heritage – though none were adopted as the official Canadian flag. Each began with the version flown by the British merchant marine - featuring a red background and Union Jack in the upper left corner.
In 1871 it was updated to include a coat of arms representing our then four provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and came to be known as the Canadian Red Ensign. A 1921 commission gave us a subsequent version with various additions including green maple leaves – which transitioned to red in a 1957 redesign.
Meanwhile, 1945 saw the official replacement of Britain’s Union Jack on Canada’s Peace Tower in Ottawa with the Canadian Red Ensign, which set off similar changes on federal buildings throughout the country and abroad.
During the 1963 election, Liberal leader Lester B. Pearson campaigned on a promise to commission an official Canadian flag. Once elected Prime Minister he set off a process that was challenging and fractious in a country torn by loyalty to the British crown and tradition, and those who wanted something uniquely Canadian. After contentious debate, thousands of submissions through a formal flag committee and a fraught process a final design was unanimously accepted - based on the flag of the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.
At noon on February 15, 1965, our current Canadian flag featuring the prominent red maple leaf was officially raised on Parliament Hill – cementing an enduring and independent national symbol for our country.
In 1996 then Prime Minister Jean Chretien declared a formal Flag Day to be celebrated each February 15th.
May we all pause briefly at noon this coming Thursday and pay respect to our Canadian flag and the fine country it represents.
Stay tuned and stay pragmatic.
Thanks for reminding us of this historical information. Sadly, most are unaware of history and its importance.
A nice reminder of how young our country really is. I heard a “story” that the original design of our current flag featured the prominent red maple leaf, as it is now, with the outer bands in blue representing both oceans. But ,,, when Lester B.Pearson reviewed the design, he proclaimed “as long as the liberal party is in power, there will be no blue on our flag” and thus the outer bands were changed to red. Now … that may be folklore but I recall the story vividly. Happy Saturday.